Mentor Graphics Delivers First HDTV Platform for the Accelerated Verification of HDMI and DisplayPort Products

WILSONVILLE, Ore., May 12, 2009 – Mentor Graphics Corp. (NASDAQ: MENT), the leader in accelerated system verification solutions, today announced its high-performance platform to accelerate the verification of HDTV products. This platform enables designers to test their HDTV system, including High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) and DisplayPort interfaces, by employing real-world HDTV stimulus and analysis tools early in the development cycle – delivering verification for thousands of full-HDTV frames. The platform consists of the Veloce® family of hardware-assisted verification products and the iSolveTM Multimedia product for HTDV applications, which provides a cost-effective and efficient solution, delivering a dynamic and accurate verification environment.

HDMI has become dominant in the connection of millions of High-Definition (HD) devices, including flat-panel HD TVs, PCs, HD camcorders, digital video recorders (DVRs), and video game consoles. With a high-speed interface that delivers sustained bandwidth rates, broader and deeper color depths to allow displays to cover billions of colors, and easier connectivity, HDMI has enjoyed a huge success, with over 800 licensees and over 200 million units sold so far.

DisplayPort is a new standard that is becoming more important in the desktop PC and mobile PC markets, as vendors look to replace existing VGA and other older standard interfaces.

With the world’s largest processor vendors, consumer electronics, and PC OEMs supporting these standards, it is critical that there are solutions available to accurately and quickly verify such interfaces on System-on-Chip (SoC) designs.

Complete HDTV Verification Platform Mentor Graphics’ HDTV platform is used as an essential part of the strategy for verifying HDTV chips, where the verification of a single frame of full-HD video takes millions of clock cycles to run. The high-performance of the HDTV platform makes it feasible to run thousands of full-HD frames, and provides full debug visibility for the user.

Additionally, the platform provides direct visualizations of the HDTV frames, rather than the limited signal-level displays of traditional simulation tools. This delivers a more effective and productive debug environment to develop new and leading-edge HDTV products, without compromising delivery schedules.

“Mentor has led the way for many years in the accelerated verification of HDTV designs, including the first HDMI emulation solution with our iSolveTM Multimedia product, which is successfully deployed at world-leading consumer electronics companies,” stated Eric Selosse, vice president and general manager, Mentor Graphics Emulation Division. “Now, with the addition of DisplayPort, Mentor strengthens its position as the premier vendor for hardware emulation solutions for HDTV applications.”

Mentor’s HDTV platform supports the latest HDMI and DisplayPort standards, and includes state-of-the-art debug and analysis tools for video and audio content, automatic generators for data streaming, and remote access client software to support users in worldwide organizations.

The platform can be used with a traditional In-Circuit Emulation as well as a high-performance Transaction-Based Acceleration mode of operation. The ability to mix and match traditional ICE capabilities with high-performance Transaction-Based Acceleration facilitates the smooth transition from simulation centric use models to In-Circuit Emulation.

About Mentor Graphics Mentor Graphics Corporation (NASDAQ: MENT) is a world leader in electronic hardware and software design solutions, providing products, consulting services and award-winning support for the world’s most successful electronics and semiconductor companies. Established in 1981, the company reported revenues over the last 12 months of about $800 million and employs approximately 4,500 people worldwide. Corporate headquarters are located at 8005 S.W. Boeckman Road, Wilsonville, Oregon 97070-7777. World Wide Web site: www.mentor.com/.